Every society and nation has its heroes and villains, real and imagined. This is certainly true among the many Native nations in the United States. Each of the 563 federally recognized Native tribes and nations in the United States can identify people who have made a mark for themselves and for their nations. Some of them have transcended tribal identity and achieved legendary status and are heroes to all Native peoples. We need only mention names such as Cornplanter (Seneca), Kintpuash or Captain Jack (Modoc), Osceola (Seminole), Quanah Parker (Comanche), Sitting Bull (Lakota), Pontiac (Ottawa), Mangas Coloradas (Mimbreno Apache), Seattle (Duwamish), and John Ross (Cherokee) and most Native people will know them as heroes — without regard to their tribe or nation — even though they lived before 1900. The one Native person who probably should be remembered is one whose name and tribe we will never know: that person who was the first to set foot on North America. Whatever circumstance, path, or mode of transportation brought him or her here, or what language he or she spoke, he or she was the first to lay eyes on this land.

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